Local Food Stalwart Needs Our Help
Tracey Vowell of Three Sisters Garden Suffered Major Losses in a Fire
In This Issue
• Three Sisters Garden Requests Donations After Major Losses in a Fire
• Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) Unveils New Website
• Naturally Chicago Seeks Administrative Coordinator (You Can Work With Me!)
Three Sisters Garden Suffers Major Losses in Fire
I try to focus on the bright side of our region’s local food community, but farming is an inherently risky business and bad things do happen.
Yesterday I received the usually cheery email newsletter from Tracey Vowell at Three Sisters Garden, and I gasped. Tracey reported that the nearby farm in Kankakee that helps produce and store her products had a disastrous fire, and she suffered major losses that she’s just in the process of calculating.
The financial impact is likely to be major: Tracey, in the newsletter content copied below, calls it life-changing. She is accepting donations, so if you can help, please click the button below.
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Three Sisters Garden Newsletter, 2/15/22
Tuesday started with a COVID scare, as I really did not feel well late Monday, and worse Tuesday morning. Took the test, and it turns out that whatever my situation, it is more along the lines of a cold. Whew, it felt like a near miss. Unbelievable what I can talk myself into with such a short period of unknowing.
Then the day went on, and we were jubilant that the test was negative, twice, and we could get on with business. Little did we know, my little COVID scare was not the event of the day today.
We have a farmer here in town that we have worked with for the entire time we have been in Kankakee. He has big boy farm equipment, and it has allowed us to produce things like the beans, white corn and popcorn. We also work with him to produce our sweet corn and some of our summer vegetables.
Early this morning, there was a horrific fire that completely consumed his two connected barns, and everything inside. We do not yet know how bad it is, and I imagine it will be a few days before we do. The site is quite literally still smoking. I have included a few photos so that you can see that I am not talking about a small fire, or a small barn. Keep in mind that it is winter, and every piece of equipment possible was put away in the buildings.
We store beans, corn and popcorn, not in that barn, but in the white truck trailer along side, in the above photo. We do not yet know what kind of loss we face in product, but from the little bit we have seen, it is substantial, maybe not total. The list of things we do not yet know is also substantial.
This fire will certainly be life changing both for my friend David, and for us.
I have removed black beans from the site for the time being. When we have had time to reset and know what happened inside the trailer, I will put them back on. With the thaw happening today, and another 8-10 inches of snow expected tonight, it may be a while until we can get to the bin and restock. Unfortunately, we were headed to the trailer to restock when we learned about the fire.
Pardon me if I don’t have anything much fun to say today. This event is proving to be quite a trial.
Check Out FACT’s Beautiful New Website
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) is a mission-driven Chicago nonprofit, and its brand-new website refresh helps visitors to more easily find and access information about its Safe and Healthy Food Program, its Humane Farming Program, and other matters important to our local food community.
Please read more in the following post from FACT and click the button below to visit the upgraded site.
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We are excited to launch our new website. Our new site leverages best practices in web design to create a streamlined, intuitive user experience for all visitors.
Whether you’re a farmer in search of funding, a consumer looking for information on humane food labels, or a potential partner interested in funding our efforts, our new site makes it easy to find what you need.
We showcase the animals and farms that we support though gorgeous, high-impact photography from some of our favorite farmers. New functionality provides easier access to critical resources, such as our webinar series on humane-farming practices. And a new blog gives us more opportunities to share news, spotlight our achievements, and introduce you to members of our community.
We’d love to hear what you think… We’re always happy to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Harry Rhodes
Executive Director, FACT
P.S. Contribute to FACT’s impact by making a donation today! FACT holds a Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar, a nationally recognized charity watchdog. You can rest assured that FACT maintains a high level of accountability and transparency.
Job Opening at Naturally Chicago (Work With Me!)
Naturally Chicago — a non-profit that works to catalyze growth in Chicago’s rising Good Food and Natural Products sector — is seeking a fulltime Administrative Coordinator. If you are a high-energy person with a range of strong administrative skills and a zeal for helping build a better food system, please click the button below for job details and to apply.
This position has a wide scope of work including administrative and office support, program and event coordination, digital communications implementation, and more. It provides a deep dive into the world of entrepreneurs, established businesses, investors, service providers, advocates and others who are striving to build the market for better-for-people, better-for-the-planet products.
It also will connect the new Administrative Coordinator with like-minded colleagues throughout the Naturally Network, which includes Naturally Chicago and seven other affiliates in major cities across the United States.
And — last but not least — you’d get to work with me (I hope you think that’s a good thing). Naturally Chicago is the leading client for the contract work I do outside Local Food Forum. I previously helped launch and run the program from 2019 to 2021 when I worked for FamilyFarmed, and came back on board at the invitation of Managing Director Jim Slama after the organization spun off from FamilyFarmed last August.
Intrigued? Click the button below for more details about the position and to apply.
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